Funeral for student stabbed to death

The funeral of a teenager stabbed to death as she walked home along an isolated riverside footpath will be held today.

A-level student Asha Muneer was killed after leaving work at Laura Ashley on the evening of January 18.

The part-time shop assistant was discovered lying next to the River Kennet, near the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, by a jogger at 8.30pm.

Her former boyfriend, Gulamyr Akhter, 19, of Victoria Way, Reading, appeared in court charged with her murder.

Miss Muneer is thought to have left work at the nearby Brunel Retail Park at around 6pm - more than two hours before her body was discovered.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered 25 stab wounds.

In a statement, Miss Muneer's relatives paid tribute to the talented student who was taking A-levels in English, sociology and economics.

"Our family has lost a loving, beautiful daughter and we are trying to come to terms with how she died and the void that it has left in our lives," they said.

Tim Royle, headteacher of Highdown School, where Miss Muneer was a student, said: "The whole school community is deeply shocked by Asha Muneer's tragic and untimely death and all our thoughts and deepest sympathy are for her family and friends at this terrible time.

"Asha was a much-liked and very talented student who will be greatly missed by all her friends at Highdown and by the staff who knew her and taught her."

Friends and relatives will gather today to pay their respects at Rivermead Leisure Centre in Richfield Avenue, Reading.